{"id":2825,"date":"2025-06-16T06:30:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T06:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/?p=2825"},"modified":"2025-06-16T06:30:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T06:30:30","slug":"switch-2-pro-controller-review-nintendos-best-gamepad-simply-costs-too-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/archives\/2825","title":{"rendered":"Switch 2 Pro Controller review: Nintendo&#8217;s best gamepad simply costs too much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Its high $85 price is a major flaw.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static1.xdaimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2025\/06\/img_4504.jpg\" alt=\"A switch 2 with a pro controller in front of it while playing mario kart\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For as long as I can remember, Nintendo&#8217;s gamepads have been a core part of my life. The NES&#8217;s original rectangular controller was awfully unergonomic, but I still loved it, and it set me down the path of being a lifelong gaming and gadget geek. The&nbsp;SNES&#8217;s rounded gamepad&nbsp;practically defined my childhood. It&#8217;s so iconic, you can still see echoes of its layout in most controllers today. I didn&#8217;t have much love for the Nintendo 64&#8217;s triple-armed monstrosity (or that system in general), but the Gamecube&#8217;s cartoonishly quirky controller was fantastic, especially when Nintendo&#8217;s WaveBird finally made wireless gaming a reality. And while I didn\u2019t like the Wiimote or Wii U tablet much either, I can respect the swings Nintendo took with both of them.&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/nintendo-battery-OXY-003-p1786925.htm\">Replacement battery for Nintendo Game Boy Micro OXY-001 Y76NB01<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static1.xdaimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4507.jpg\" alt=\"a product image of a switch 2 pro controller\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static1.xdaimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4509.jpg\" alt=\"switch 2 pro controller side view\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static1.xdaimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4510.jpg\" alt=\"switch 2 pro controller product image showing the bumpers and triggers\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static1.xdaimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4511.jpg\" alt=\"switch 2 pro controller product images\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Switch 2 Pro controller is clearly the most refined gamepad Nintendo has ever made. It\u2019s just a shame that it\u2019s so expensive and doesn\u2019t have Hall effect sticks.Pros<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Incredibly smooth joysticks<\/li><li>Responsive face buttons<\/li><li>Accurate D-pad<\/li><li>Comfortable ergonomics<\/li><li>Customizable rear buttons<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cons<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>So expensive<\/li><li>No Hall effect sticks<\/li><li>No analog triggers<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/nintendo-battery-KTR-003-p1778738.htm\">Replacement battery for Nintendo 3DS N3DS<\/a>So, believe me when I say this: The Switch 2 Pro Controller is the best gamepad Nintendo has ever made. It feels wonderfully ergonomic and luxurious in your hands, its joysticks are buttery smooth and all of its buttons deliver excellent feedback. It&#8217;s a huge step up from the original Switch&#8217;s Pro controller, which felt weirdly cheap and plasticky, especially when rotating its analog sticks. And, as an added bonus, the Switch 2 Pro controller is also customizable, thanks to two rear buttons that can be quickly programmed in any game. There&#8217;s even a 3.5mm jack to plug in wired headphones, something I&#8217;ve never seen on a Nintendo controller before (but which has been standard on Xbox and PlayStation systems for decades).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/sdFK9VRw65kKFGigjK.9jg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU5NTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49a72110-4862-11f0-97d6-133b955ca429\" alt=\"<p>Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/p>&#8220;\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/rCvHW.TMa3ATZK9_xJlWuA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU4OTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49a21800-4862-11f0-ae35-6afe80818149\" alt=\"<p>Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/p>&#8220;\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/KzmPTTL4CHy_.AFvvjblzw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUyNTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49adfee0-4862-11f0-bfff-cc492f097b11\" alt=\"<p>Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/p>&#8220;\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/4.jyYfwqIBUs.vScI8nSjA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUwODtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49ba33e0-4862-11f0-aa7b-933fe244ce2e\" alt=\"<p>Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/p>&#8220;\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Switch 2 Pro Controller<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Switch 2 Pro Controller isn&#8217;t perfect, though. For one, it costs $85 (up from its originally announced $80 price, thanks to the Trump administration&#8217;s tariffs). I suppose that&#8217;s not as bad as buying a whole new pair of Joy-Con 2s for $95, and it&#8217;s not too far off from the PlayStation 5&#8217;s $75 Dual Sense 2, but it still stings. It&#8217;s even more painful when you consider that8Bitdo&#8217;s excellent Ultimate wireless controllercurrently costs $50 (down from a $70 launch price), it works with the Switch 2, has rear buttons<em>and<\/em>it features Hall effect joysticks. That means they&#8217;re impervious to the drifting problem that plagued the Switch 1&#8217;s controllers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/rCvHW.TMa3ATZK9_xJlWuA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU4OTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49a21800-4862-11f0-ae35-6afe80818149\" alt=\"Switch 2 Pro Controller\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While gamers have been begging Nintendo to implement Hall effect sticks for years, the company still hasn&#8217;t listened. Both the Joy-Con 2 and Switch 2 Pro Controller appear to use the same mechanism as the Switch 1&#8217;s accessories. In an interview, Nintendo producer&nbsp;Kouichi Kawamotosaid the company &#8220;redesigned everything from scratch,&#8221; for the Joy-Con 2, and from my time with the Pro 2 Controller it also feels significantly different than before. But really, all I can do is hope and pray it doesn&#8217;t start drifting. One Reddit user claimed that their&nbsp;Switch 2 Joy-Cons were drifting right out of the box, but that doesn&#8217;t appear to be a widespread issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond the pricing and technical disappointments, though, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is a dream to play with. It seriously leveled-up my<em>Mario Kart World<\/em>performance, since it was easier to drift around corners and hop up to rails without cramping my hands, something that&#8217;s unavoidable with the Joy-Con 2. I was able to play for several hours with the new Pro controller and I didn&#8217;t notice any pain, and I could also still hold it easily as my palms got sweaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As someone who was raised on every version of<em>Street Fighter 2<\/em>on the SNES, I also had to put the Switch 2 Pro Controller through its paces for fighting games. And let me tell you, the hadoukens came easily. The controller&#8217;s D-pad sits under my left thumb comfortably, and it\u2019s a cinch to click and rotate to perform<em>Street Fighter 2<\/em>moves. While playing<em>Soulcalibur 2<\/em>(now available as part of the Gamecube Classics for Nintendo Online subscribers), the Switch 2 Pro controller was also comfortable while holding my right fingers above the face buttons, similar to an arcade stick. (That&#8217;s a<em>Soulcalibur<\/em>technique I learned on the Dreamcast and never let go.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/nintendo-battery-SPR-003-p1778737.htm\">Replacement battery for Nintendo 3DS XL And 3DS XL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/KzmPTTL4CHy_.AFvvjblzw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUyNTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49adfee0-4862-11f0-bfff-cc492f097b11\" alt=\"Switch 2 Pro Controller\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite being fine-tuned for&nbsp;<em>Mario Kart<\/em>, the Switch 2 Pro Controller isn&#8217;t ideal for more realistic racing games since it doesn&#8217;t have analog triggers like its predecessor. Nintendo engineers have&nbsp;said in interviews&nbsp;that the company opted for digital triggers since they&#8217;re quicker to respond. Premium gamepads like the Xbox Elite have switches that let you choose between quick trigger modes and long analog presses, so there&#8217;s clearly a cure for Nintendo&#8217;s analog aversion. But implementing that sort of customization also makes gamepads far more complex and expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/4.jyYfwqIBUs.vScI8nSjA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUwODtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-06\/49ba33e0-4862-11f0-aa7b-933fe244ce2e\" alt=\"Switch 2 Pro Controller\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least Nintendo gave us a modicum of customization with the Switch 2 Pro controller\u2019s rear GL and GR buttons, which sit right above the handle grips. You can instantly remap their functionality in any game from the Switch 2\u2019s quick settings menu, making it easier to do things like switch weapons or jump without moving your thumbs away from the joysticks. I ended up remapping the drift and action buttons in&nbsp;<em>Mario Kart World&nbsp;<\/em>to GL and GR, which helped me avoid reaching up to hit the top trigger buttons. You can also remap all of the Switch 2 Pro Controller\u2019s buttons from the Switch 2\u2019s accessibility menu, where you can create presets for different titles too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After around 10 hours of playing a variety of games, the Switch 2 Pro Controller\u2019s battery fell to 82 percent. Nintendo claims it can last up to 40 hours, but unfortunately I haven\u2019t been able to play that much during this review. Based on what I\u2019m seeing, though, the gamepad should reach 40 hours easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As much as I like the Switch 2 Pro Controller, it\u2019s undoubtedly an extravagance at $85 when 8Bitdo\u2019s Ultimate gamepad offers even more features for $50. But if you\u2019re a dedicated Nintendo fan, or you just can\u2019t accept third-party controllers, it\u2019s also one of the best gamepads you can buy today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"should-you-buy-the-switch-2-pro-controller\">Should you buy the Switch 2 Pro Controller?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You should buy the Switch 2 Pro Controller if you:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Like the original Switch Pro Controller<\/li><li>Primarily play docked<\/li><li>Enjoy extra buttons and button remapping<\/li><li>Prefer a more quality feel compared to the Joy-Cons<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You should not buy the Switch 2 Pro Controller if you:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Primarily play handheld<\/li><li>Don&#8217;t care about back buttons or button remapping<\/li><li>Don&#8217;t like controllers that smudge easily<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Its high $85 price is a major flaw. For as long as I can remember, Nintendo&#8217;s gamepads have been a core part of my life. The NES&#8217;s original rectangular controller was awfully unergonomic, but I still loved it, and it set me down the path of being a lifelong gaming and gadget geek. The&nbsp;SNES&#8217;s rounded &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/archives\/2825\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Switch 2 Pro Controller review: Nintendo&#8217;s best gamepad simply costs too much&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2826,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions\/2826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}